HSI, Limerick

More about Ireland

Ireland is historically known as the “Island of Saints and Scholars” and has a long and strong tradition of education. This has meant that  education has always been highly valued and a focus for funding and development.  It has also been a major factor in Ireland’s economic success in recent years. Among other things, Ireland was named “Best Place in the World to Live” by the Economist in 2005. It is also commonly referred to as the “Celtic Tiger” and was ranked  the second wealthiest country per capita in the world by the UN Development Programme (2005).

Higher Education in Ireland

At post secondary or the third level, institutions of higher education offer bachelor degrees of three years, master degrees of one to two years and doctorate degrees. Some institutions also offer shorter certificate and diploma courses.

There are nine universities in Ireland – 2 in Northern Ireland and 7 in the Republic. International students are welcome to study at any third level institution. These universities offer bachelor, master and doctorate programs in addition to a wide range of research.

There are also 14 institutes of Technology that offer programs at degree, national diploma and national certificate levels in a wide range of subjects such as engineering and science. All education at the institutes is validated by Ireland’s national certification authority to ensure that the education provided holds the highest international standard. Many institutes of technology hold postgraduate diploma and degree programs, both taught and research.

A further type of higher education institution in Ireland is the Colleges of Education and independent third level colleges. There are five Colleges of Education for educating primary school teachers. Independent third level colleges offer certificate, diploma and degree programs in such areas as accountancy and business studies, law, humanities,hotel and catering, tourism studies and art. All these colleges have recognition and external accreditation from the national certification authority or alternatively from other institutions such as universities.

HSI Limerick Business School has been operating successfully as an independent College since it was founded by Nora McNamara in 1951. The College has developed a reputation for excellence in education provision in the Mid-West region over the past sixty years.

HSI Limerick Business School was first recognised by the Minister of Education and became a designated institute of the Higher Education and Awards Council (HETAC) in 1994. In 1997, the school was approved for tax relief purposes by the Department of Education and Science. As it first moved to the higher education sphere, the School initially offered a number of programmes leading to awards at National Certificate level. The relationship with HETAC has expanded over subsequent years and programmes offered now include ordinary degree and honours degree programmes – in 2005, the first graduates of the HETAC Bachelor of Business (Honours) were conferred.

In 2008, HETAC approved HSI as an outreach centre of the Irish Academy of Public Relations and its Level 8 Higher Diploma in Arts in Public Relations commenced at the college in Autumn 2008. As a further make of quality education provision, HSI Limerick Business School agreed its quality assurance procedures with the Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC) in 2005. This has allowed the School to offer recognised awards, with clear progression paths, to both Irish and international learners at Level 4 and Level 5 on the National Framework of Qualifications.

In 2007, HSI Limerick Business School attained Gold approval from ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing professional international accountancy bodies, in recognition of its continuous commitment to the delivery of high-quality eduational support to ACCA students.